Hidden History: A Plot Long Concealed

 

George Washington

     Even before the American colonies declared their independence, General George Washington became acutely aware of the many potential threats to his personal safety and to his life. While commanding the siege of Boston in March 1776, he issued an order to Continental Army colonels and commanding officers to each select four “good Men, such as they can recommend for their sobriety, honesty and good behavior; he (Washington) wishes them to be from five feet eight Inches high, to five feet ten Inches; handsomely and well made, and as there is nothing in his eyes more desirable than Cleanliness in a Soldier, he desires that particular attention be made in the choice of such men as are clean and spruce” to serve as his personal guards. 

     This elite group of soldiers became known primarily as “The Life Guards.” The unit’s official mission was "to protect General Washington, the army's cash, and official papers." Their uniforms consisted of “a blue coat with white facings; white waistcoat and breeches; black stock and black half-gaiters, and a round hat, with blue and white feather.” A special flag was fashioned of white silk, with an image of a guard member holding the reins of a horse while receiving “a flag from genius of Liberty, who is personified as a woman leaning upon the Union shield.” The flag included the Guards’ motto, “Conquer or Die.” Major Caleb Gibbs became the commander of the unit.

  

The Life Guard Flag

     The Continental Army shocked England and the world by taking Boston as a result of the siege, making elimination of the Commander-in-Chief an even more prized goal.

     The army’s move to New York, with its large number of British loyalists (Tories), put Washington into even more peril. The British Governor of New York, William Tryon, had fled to a British Merchant ship for his own safety and remained there in self-imposed exile. Washington tried to minimize communications between New York colonists and the ship. He also requested that the New York Provincial Congress form a secret Committee on Conspiracies to uncover conspiracies among New York’s Loyalists. The Congress established the committee and appointed a trusted patriot, John Jay, as its leader.   

                                                                        

Governor William Tryon

     Governor Tryon and New York City Mayor David Mathews, both Tories, wanted to insure a British victory in the impending battle for the city. They hatched a plot to remove Washington as leader of the Continental Army. Some accounts indicate the plan was to assassinate Washington while others suggest the goal was to kidnap him.  Either outcome would eliminate him as commander of the Continental Army. Tryon and Mathews, with the help of local loyalists, successfully turned some of Washington’s newly appointed Life Guards against him.

     On June 15, 1776 two Life Guards, Thomas Hickey and Michael Lynch, were arrested and jailed for passing counterfeit money. They confided to Isaac Ketcham, a fellow prisoner who was a civilian, that they and several other members of the Life Guard were involved in a plot against Washington and they intended to defect to the British army as soon as the invasion came. Ketchum reported this information to the investigating committee in an effort to free himself from charges resulting from his own counterfeiting operations.  The committee learned more information from an iron mill foreman who had uncovered details of the plot in the course of tracking down some absent workers for his boss.

      The local New York City Committee of Safety discovered the plan and Mayor Mathews’ role in it. On June 21^st, Washington approved his immediate arrest, along with others involved in the conspiracy. All were questioned, and Hickey was determined to be the ringleader among the Life Guard conspirators.

     The city authorities turned Hickey over to the Continental Army. He was court-martialed for conspiracy. During the trial, witnesses accused Mathews of funding the effort to bribe soldiers to join the British. Prosecutors could not prove the charge, but he and twelve others were briefly imprisoned. Hickey, however, was found guilty of mutiny and sedition. A crowd of 20,000 spectators watched his execution by hanging on June 28, 1776 in New York.     

     The Life Guard remained on duty until the end of the war, disbanding in 1783. The extent of the plot against George Washington will probably never be fully known, but there is no question that he barely escaped it on the eve of the Revolution.

     I learned about this plot from The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch. According to the authors, Washington covered up the assassination plot because he did not want anyone to know that his own men had turned on him just as the British were about to invade. He feared it would reflect poorly on his ability to lead the Continental Army.

     So much of our history has been hidden by choice or by chance. It is fascinating to come across stories like this one. Who knows what else we might discover in the future?

 Ann Markim

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